TWO FEDERAL AGENTS GUNNED DOWN IN MEXICO

MEXICO CITY - Two federal agents who took part in a raid that
discovered $205 million in cash in a Mexico City mansion were found
beaten and shot to death in southern Mexico, authorities said Wednesday.

The bodies of Josue Hernandez, 32, and Anibal Sanchez, 30, both agents
with Mexico's Federal Agency of Investigation, were found Tuesday in
Guerrero state, where they were gathering intelligence on drug
traffickers, the Public Safety Department said in a news release.

Both officers took part in the seizure of more than 19 tons of a
chemical intended for methamphetamine cartels in Mexico. They were
also in the team of agents who raided Ye Gon's mansion where
authorities in March found more than $205 million in cash hidden in
closets, the news release said.

The seizures led to last month's arrest of Chinese-Mexican businessman
Zhenli Ye Gon by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in a
suburban Washington restaurant.

He is accused in the United States and Mexico of supplying
pseudoephedrine to Mexican cartels who then used the drug to make
methamphetamine.

Ye Gon has said the chemicals imported by his company, Unimed Pharm
Chem de Mexico SA, were legitimate and intended for cold medicines. Ye
Gon's lawyers said he has nothing to do with illegal drugs.

The Mexican agents were assigned to high-risk tasks and were
"outstanding" members of the federal police, the department said.

Guerrero, which includes the resorts cities of Zihuatanejo and
Acapulco, has suffered from a wave of violence including
decapitations, shootings and grenade explosions that authorities
attribute to warring drug-trafficking gangs.